Five Benefits of Massage Therapy

While many may think that massage therapy is only useful for the rich who can afford the time and money to have this bit of relaxation, massages are actually extremely useful and affordable, and increasing numbers of studies are showing that they can provide physical and mental health benefits to numerous groups of people. In fact, some have found that massage therapy has helped them reduce the number of other, riskier treatments they must have or reduce the amount of medication they are taking.

Muscular Relaxation

One of the most obvious benefits of massage therapy, particularly Swedish massage, which is a lighter massage type that uses stroking and kneading, is muscular relaxation. Massage therapy can be great for you if you regularly find yourself tensing up your muscles or if you end up with pinched nerves from muscle tension. When the muscles are loosened, they are allowed to heal, making a massage invaluable after sports injuries or overuse.

Stress Reduction

All of this muscular relaxation can lead to great stress reduction. Studies have shown that regular massages can improve mood, decrease anxiety, boost energy and even lower cortisol levels in the body, which are tied to inflammatory disorders and increased stress. It can also be incredibly helpful to decrease acute and chronic pain; studies are showing that it can decrease pain associated with fibromyalgia. This also makes it a potent stress reducer.

Posture Improvement

Many of us slump over our desks, computers, phones and steering wheels every day or spend many hours spent holding awkward or heavy things. This can make our posture poor, causing us to hunch forward. This can put undue stress on the back and neck muscles, sometimes leading to pain. As the muscles are relaxed with massage therapy, they loosen, allowing the bones of the back, neck and shoulders to come into proper alignment.

Circulatory Improvement

Massage therapy stimulates the skin and the muscles, increasing blood circulation through them. This can bring healing resources, including oxygen and nutrients, to injured or sore muscles and can stimulate growth factors in the skin that give you that beautiful glow.

Other Physical Health Benefits

While you may think of massage therapy as being mainly for your mental benefit, it actually has numerous other physical benefits. It can lower blood pressure through stress reduction, decrease insomnia, improve digestion, decrease constipation, decrease headaches, decrease jaw pain, improve breathing and do much more.

If you believe that you could benefit from massage therapy, we invite you to visit Persona Medical Spa in Houston to experience a relaxing and life-renewing treatment. Contact us today to schedule an appointment!